A/N: So, I really should be updating my other Twilight story, but I haven't been able to come up with any inspiration for it anymore, I will keep it. The mood just had to strike to want to write for it. I know I've gotten such great feedback for it though, which is amazing, and I thank everyone who has stayed with it for this long, it means so much. But I was in more of an Emmett Cullen mood lately, and really thought I should just try a different character for once. Read & Review. :)


Run Away

I would never understand why my Mother insisted on moving to Forks. Hypothetically speaking, of course.

It was like she was just trying to mess with me. I could almost picture her laughing behind my back about everything. Just to spite me.

It was my first day here at the wonderfully, horrifyingly small high school that was Forks High. I just couldn't believe less than a month ago, I was at home in Montana, completely and utterly happy. And now, here I found myself in a small, depressing sodden hole in the ground town that next to no one even knew existed.

Mom was a nurse, and she needed the work. I knew that Montana was pretty limited on all things medical, considering hospitals were few and far between in the large state. But I had never, ever expected her to find any kind of work in a town as small as Forks. It was maddening. We live in Montana, where we had no option but to move, and then she finds work in one of the smallest towns in Washington state. It was just so ironic.

I sighed, looking down at the map that I had just been given in the small office that headed the front of the brick building school. I knew this was going to be a long day. At least the cold didn't bother me. I had left Montana in November, about at the head of the six months of never ending snow and ice that it offered. So the rain and fog really weren't all that bad.

I looked down at the schedule that was next to the map, that was directly in front of my face. Since I was in eleventh grade, I was supposed to be in Algebra 2, meaning that I had completed Geometry the previous year. The funny thing was, I had taken Geometry in ninth grade, and Algebra 1 in tenth. It was so backwards here. The Quillayute School District put Geometry in between the two Algebras. It probably only succeeded in confusing the students.

So my first period was Algebra 2 with Lewis. Man or woman, I didn't know yet. But it was sure to be boring.

I had Lewis in building 3. It was kind of strange how there were buildings instead of actual rooms. I walked into the room and saw that it was divided down the middle, and I realized that the buildings were split in two for two classrooms in each one.

I walked over to Mrs. Lewis, she was a she after all, and said, "Hi, I'm Erica Steele, I just got my schedule, and the receptionist wanted you to sign this paper for her."

"Oh, yes. I was just informed we were going to have a new student. It's really a pleasure to meet you. You must know that we don't see many new faces here, so it's a bit refreshing honestly." She smiled at me genuinely, and I returned it, my mood lifting slightly at her obvious casualness. She seemed like one of those teachers, you know, the ones where you instantly realize every student likes them, whether they want to or not. She was great.

I handed her the paper I was told to give her, and she took it, placing it on her desk. She grabbed a pen from a drawer, and signed it with a flourish, handing me the now signed piece of paper.

"Um, let's see, since you're new, I'd like you to sit next to someone who has at least a B average, so they can catch you up easily. Here let me check something really quick." Mrs. Lewis said, turning towards her desk-top which was placed on her desk next to a projector. I looked away from her for a moment and looked towards the classroom. It was filling quite fast already, and I saw that every student that walked in was openly staring at me. Mrs. Lewis was right. People here were really taken aback at new people. Wow, I'm sure it would be bad at some other school but this was ridiculous.

I nodded and smiled at a few of the girls that walked in, hoping to seem friendly and approachable, considering I was the new one here. A few returned the smile, a few ignored me, and one girl openly scoffed at me. That was where I decided it was best to look back towards Mrs. Lewis, and see what she was doing.

"Ok, so I want you to sit next to Alice, please. She has an A, but I just wanted you to be able to catch up as fast as possible. I think she'll be able to do the job just fine." She nodded and smiled at me, and I looked out towards the classroom to see if I could find this Alice girl she was talking about. The girl I presumed was Alice, was shaking her hand in the air, rather enthusiastically considering it wasn't even 8:30 in the morning yet.

Strange, I thought. Mrs. Lewis hadn't told her to raise her hand for me. I shrugged the thought off, not really caring either way, so I made my way towards the middle of the room where the two person desk was placed.

"Hi, I'm Alice Cullen." She beamed up at me. Even sitting, I noticed that she was rather short as far as height went.

"Erica Steele." I said, nodding at her, smiling, trying to seem genuine but probably failing miserably. I studied her face for the first time, and realized she was probably one of the palest people I had ever met in my life. And that was saying something, since Montana had been so overcast itself. She was cute, obviously not in the way one would think, but just cute. Her overall demeanor was pretty refreshing, and I basked in it. She had the most perfect features of anyone I had ever seen, also. Almost too perfect, to the point of the angularity was startling. Alice also had shadows underneath her eyes, from lack of sleep I gathered in my head, but looking into her eyes, I noticed they were a very dark shade of gold. That had me taken aback for a moment, but I quickly recovered.

"So, where did you move from? Let me guess, somewhere cold right? You seem like the type of person to handle it well. No goosebumps, I see," She rambled on, and giggled, obviously realizing her mistake. "So, really, where did you move from?"

"I just moved from Montana. I lived in Boseman, it's pretty close to West Yellowstone." I replied casually, still studying her. She was so damn bubbly, it made me wonder how it was possible. Coffee, was my immediate thought. "And yeah, definitely used to the cold. Montana was pretty harsh during the winter, but still beautiful, of course."

"That's so amazing. I've been to Montana myself a few times with family, and I've loved it. The wildlife there is simply put, amazing." She winked at me, and giggled. It seemed that she was hiding some inside joke when she talked of the wildlife. I kind of shook it off, but wondered what she could have meant.

"Yeah, the bison aren't my favorite for some reason. Just too big for my liking, but other than that, I'm all for it." I laughed at my weird humor, and she smiled slowly as the bell rang above us. Then it was time to catch up on what I needed to for this particular class. I listened intently the entire time, and was completely focused, up until Mrs. Lewis called on me.

"Erica, I'd like you to study with Alice. Maybe after school or sometime very soon, if possible? I saw that you were taking notes the entire time, and that pleases me. But I'd like Alice to show you the basics a bit more. I'm sure she'd be more than able. Is that alright, Alice?" Mrs. Lewis turned her attention to Alice then, and Alice smiled.

"Of course, Mrs. Lewis. I could take her over to my house after school to go over the curriculum." Alice spoke softly, her small voice loud in the classroom of silence.

I realized then that everybody was staring at me, because that was the first time I was addressed aloud in the classroom. There were several of the girls staring at me openly, and several of the boys that I had noticed when they walked in staring blatantly, also. One even winked at me when I made eye contact, which caused me to flush, and look back towards Mrs. Lewis.

"Perfect. I'm sure you'll know the ins and outs in no time at all..." She continued on to ramble about the homework that was to be assigned tonight, and then the bell rang, signalling the end of class. Alice stood, but waited until I had my notebook in my bag before walking with me to the door.

"So, at lunch you can sit with me, and we can go over some of the homework for tonight, if you'd like? And then...well, this morning I saw you drove to school. So you can follow me after school to my house and we can go over everything there, is that alright?" She chirped, her bright voice lifting my spirits.

"Of course, that sounds great. I'll call my Mom at lunch and let her know that I won't be home when she gets home. She's a nurse at the hospital. That's why we moved here. Work was pretty scarce in Montana." I cringed at the thought.

"Oh, really? My Father works there. He's a Physician, his name is Carlisle Cullen. Maybe you're Mother has met him?" She asked. As a matter of fact, Mom had said something about a Dr. Cullen at the hospital that was intimidatingly good looking. Oh, Brenda Steele, you are so in for it when I get home tonight, I thought with a laugh.

"Yeah, I'm sure my Mom knows him." I explained to Alice when she gave me a confused look.

"Really? That's very interesting to know. I'm sure you'll meet him tonight, and I'm sure you'll love it," She winked at me knowingly, and I honestly had no idea what she meant. But I just let it go. "By the way, what do you have next?"

I finally decided to take a look at my full schedule, and was thoroughly disappointed with what I saw.

"Um, I have Chemistry, with Hunter. And then for third, I have U.S. History with Urlacher. And great, fourth I have Weight Training with Peterson. I thought I was done with PE," I griped, more to myself than Alice. "And lunch, of course. Fifth would be...English with Coburn...Davis? Two teachers?" I looked to Alice, and she nodded to my question. "Sixth is, my elective," I laughed openly at this. "Culinary 1, oh dear God, with Dixon." I finished with a huff, obviously miffed with my chosen schedule.

"Oh dear God, why? Bad cook?" She teased, winking at me.

"Yeah...you literally have no idea..." I was actually ashamed at the thought of me trying to cook for a grade. I would have to switch that elective around, and fast.

"Well, I don't want you being late to Chemistry. You need to go mix things to be able to blow them up, I mean, who wouldn't want to do that? But Chemistry is right on the other side of this classroom. The one that's connected to Mrs. Lewis. Have fun. And, oh, I have History with you and English. So we can definitely talk more then." She gave me another one of her mysterious winks, and walked off, completely gracefully. I was so jealous.

But I recovered, and started making my way around to the other side of the building to the classroom that was promised to be on the other side. As Alice was right, there was my next class.

I was never good at any form of Science back in Montana, and I was almost completely sure that wasn't going to change at all in Forks. I stared at the door for a moment before walking in, hesitating.

Suddenly, I was pushed to the side, rather abruptly.

I looked over and into the face of the girl that had scoffed at me in first. I gave her a confused look, and she just looked at me like I was lower than her...which was strange for her considering I was a good three or four inches taller than her.

"Was that necessary?" I questioned her, one of my brown eyebrows arched.

"For the new girl? Yes. Get used to it." She retorted, rather malignantly if I do say so myself. I just guffawed, considering there was nothing else to do. I was still in the doorway, so I moved out of the way quickly. I watched as she sat next to a boy who had a lettermen jacket on, who looked over at me when she sat down and said something to him. He laughed openly at me, to which I averted my eyes, completely uncomfortable now.

I tried ignoring them as best as I could, but they were obviously trying to make a spectacle of me. This day was going good...I thought harshly. Great.

I walked to the front of the classroom, obviously being stared at by the students filing into the classroom, one after the other, sitting in the rightful seats. At least there was hardly anyone in the classroom when the ordeal with the little bitch had occurred.

I saw Mr. Hunter bent over something on his desk, but when he noticed someone was standing in front of him, he looked up expectantly. "Ah, yes, Ms. Steele. I just got an email from Mrs. Lewis. New student, eh?" He questioned me.

"Yeah, just moved here from Montana." I replied, giving him the basics I was sure he already knew. "I need you to sign this pass. It's for the receptionist, she needs it at the end of the day, Mr. Hunter."

"Ah, yes, of course," I handed him the already crinkled yellow paper. "So, Erica, have you had any experience with Chemistry as of now?" He asked as he finished signing the paper, handing it back to me.

"Oh, no. But I've had Biology already, and back in Montana we had done some experiments involving different chemicals and electrical current boxes. I don't think that's exactly what you had in mind, though." I replied, trying to not sound so eager to agree with everything he said.

"Ok, you'd probably be better suited with someone like...Edward. Edward Cullen, please raise your hand." Mr. Hunter requested of this boy Edward, that I would be 'better suited' with.

I turned and saw the boy in question. He had bronze hair, with red tints and tones to its messiness. He was as pale as Alice, maybe even paler. He also had those damn eyes again, except his were even more gold, vibrant even. I could tell from my position at the front of the class, and he was in the back. Wow, related maybe?

"Edward will be your lab partner from now on. You may take your seat now." Mr. Hunter suggested casually.

I walked to go sit where Edward was, but halfway there, I had to pass the girl that had tried making an example of me at the beginning of class. She stuck her 'oh-so-feminine' foot out into the aisle, right as I was to walk there. And can you guess what happened?

Oh, I know what happened.

Erica went face first.

Splat.


A/N: As you can tell, this was a rather large chapter. Proud of it. Just read and enjoy :) And review! :)